Owl gave the hint some 5-6 years ago that Marakele NP is the place to find Shelley's francolins. So, when I got the opportunity to visit this park for the first time, meeting up with this francolin was high on my priority list.

Well-grassed woodland and stony terrain is the perfect the habitat for Shelley's francolin, typically what one finds along this spectacular part of Lenong Dive where it starts up the side of the majestic mountain that overlooks the Tlopi tented camp. After having been up that road twice in two days on leisurely drives without any success, I decided to tackle it first thing early on the last morning of our stay in the game reserve. About halfway up the climb, just about exactly where Owl said he gets them regularly, I came across a pair of birds with two sub-adults in tow.

Canon’s ISO settings had to come to the rescue as the sun had a long way to go before hitting this specific patch of the Lenong Dive! Fortunately the francolin gave me some good views and plenty opportunity to get a good shot. With ISO set at 800, the exposure time was only 1/80th of a second, just where a subject had to cooperate very nicely to prevent the shots from being blurry. Back in the “darkroom” I chucked away 10 for every one that was a keeper. One photograph stood head-and-shoulders above the rest… Not bad evidence of a lifer!